In a scenario eerily reminiscent of the Tony Martin case, two low-life crimmos find themselves in the deep end end after breaking into a farm.

However, in this case nervy Spike (Colgan) accidentally shoots the farmer's daughter, forcing him and Heaton (Glenaan) to go on the run.

Essentially a pair of townies, with little survivalist strategy, the pair flee onto the hostile terrain of the Yorkshire moors.

Meanwhile, farming cronies of the distraught victim's father - led by the sinister Bellamy (Bradley) - misinform the police that the two have headed south.

Recruiting a small posse, equipped with dogs, trial bikes and four-wheel drives, the hunt is on to mete out Tyke-style justice on the miscreants.

What we now get is essentially Deliverance-in-the-Dales with Spike and Heaton forced to play a deadly game of cat and mouse with their dogged pursuers.

It's been done before but what makes this interesting is the warped bond of loyalty stretched to its limits between the two quarry.

To kick off with the competent, assured Heaton leads the feckless, jumpy Spike only for their roles to be reversed when Heaton injures his leg.

You can sympathise with their blind flight from the crime scene, but the dynamic of the narrative is slightly bruised by their total lack of remorse.

On the plus side, the hunt - full of narrow escapes and close runs - is superbly paced with Bellamy's men a constant, spectral threat.

Scripted on the hoof by The Full Monty's Simon Beaufoy (the whole affair is the result of Mike Leigh-style workshopping), Eltringham avoids standard Brit-movie pitfalls.

For a start the menace is always suggested and never gorily evoked in graphic detail (why this got an 18 certificate is anybody's guess) and the plot works because it's kept simple.

At a time when similar Hollywood fare (think William Friedkin's lame The Hunted) limply flounders around it's a real pleasure to witness a small but deliciously crafted British effort.

Tim Evans